Replay of Sophie Cunningham foul call has WNBA fans outraged

Replay of Sophie Cunningham foul call has WNBA fans outraged originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

>Sophie Cunningham found herself at the center of another controversial WNBA moment Sunday, although this time the debate focused entirely on a head-scratching call by the officials. During the second quarter of the Indiana Fever’s 108-100 loss to the Minnesota Lynx, Cunningham was guarding Minnesota forward Nia Coffey when Coffey turned and caught her in the face with an elbow.

>Cunningham immediately fell to the floor and grabbed her face. Despite taking the most obvious contact during the sequence, the Fever guard was called for a defensive foul with 7:04 remaining in the quarter.

>Once the replay reached social media, fans could not believe the call.

>“Maybe the worst foul call of all-time,” the popular Shooter McGavin account wrote while sharing a video of the collision.

>Another viral post from BrickCenter offered a similar reaction.

>“Sophie Cunningham got ELBOWED in the face,” the account wrote. “Refs call a foul on Sophie Cunningham.”

Why officials called the foul on Sophie CunninghamThe slow-motion replay looked brutal for Cunningham. Coffey’s elbow made direct contact with her face, sending the Fever guard backward and onto the floor.

Maybe the worst foul call of all-time pic.twitter.com/TycBpg6XN0

— Shooter McGavin (@ShooterMcGavin) August 2, 2026However, the elbow and the original foul call were not necessarily part of the same action in the eyes of the officials. Cunningham was defending Coffey closely before the contact occurred, and the referees apparently determined that she committed a defensive foul before Coffey brought the ball upward. The official play-by-play listed a personal foul on Cunningham at the 7:04 mark of the second quarter.

>That distinction was largely lost once the video began circulating. The viral replay focused on the elbow, making it appear as though Cunningham was penalized simply for getting hit in the face. The visuals did the officials no favors. Cunningham took the hardest contact, immediately grabbed her face and still ended up with the foul charged against her.

>Cunningham temporarily left the game after the collision but later returned. She finished with three points, three rebounds and three assists in 15 minutes.

>MORE: Washington Mystics make stunning leap to No. 2 in latest WNBA power rankings

Fever comeback falls short against LynxThe controversial call was only one moment in a high-scoring matchup between two of the WNBA’s top teams. Minnesota built a 64-53 halftime advantage and led by as many as 16 points before Indiana mounted a fourth-quarter comeback. The Fever cut the deficit to two points late in the game, but the Lynx held on for a 108-100 victory.

>Rookie guard Olivia Miles led Minnesota with 28 points, while Courtney Williams added 27. The win extended the Lynx’s winning streak to 10 games and improved their league-best record to 25-6. Indiana had its five-game winning streak snapped and fell to 19-11. Kelsey Mitchell led the Fever with 31 points, while Caitlin Clark recorded 25 points and 12 assists.

>The loss was frustrating enough for Indiana, but the Cunningham sequence became one of the game’s biggest talking points. Whether viewers believed Cunningham’s initial defensive contact justified the whistle or not, the sight of a player absorbing an elbow to the face and then being called for a foul was always going to spark a strong reaction.

More WNBA news:Washington Mystics make stunning leap to No. 2 in latest WNBA power rankings • >Jason Whitlock questions Caitlin Clark’s behavior amid MVP-caliber Fever season • >Kelsey Mitchell passes Diana Taurasi with historic scoring streak for Fever • >Cheryl Reeve reveals details of pregame conversation with Sophie Cunningham • >Sophie Cunningham’s touching gesture brings young Fever fan to tears after win